Failed Experiments
by Strangers-when-we-meet
Summary: Mina had volunteered to be the guinea pig for the latest experiment, one that would change her life. If it worked. While under strict observation after the surgery, she is placed with the Avengers and it didn't take long for everything to go to hell.
1. Chapter 1 - The Procedure

White flooded her vision; muffled voices of concern rang in her ears. It felt as if she were submerged beneath water, nothing was clear and there was a weight covering her entire body. God, she needed to breathe, but she couldn't force enough energy to suck in the air. The darkness was calling to her again, begging for her to come back.

Yes. Sleep sounded good now.

A figure appeared, a gentle face covered by a surgical mask.

"…Mina…don't….a mistake…dead." She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the man's words in their entirety. They didn't sound pleasant. Did she know him? She felt like she did, yet she had no memory. There was absolutely nothing in the void she found herself in. Ah there it was, the darkness again. It was whispering promises of eternal peace and freedom, how tempting it was. Something so soothing couldn't possibly hurt, right?

Right. Without another thought, she drifted away, sinking deeper, and her vision began to fade again.

The doctors and scientists stood around her body, the heart monitor falling flat. It was completely silent, their experiment had failed. It had been an attempt at something extraordinary that would eventually lead to a change in the way people live. Isn't that how it usually goes?

"Call it." The head scientist, and the one performing the surgery, said.

"Shouldn't we do…something? We just killed one of our colleagues." Another scientist in the room.

"She knew the risks. This was a failure, and we will move on. We'll get it right eventually." Swiftly removing his bloodied gloves, the doctor's eyes scanned the room. Two nurses and three scientists, all of which had tired faces, this procedure had taken a lot out of everyone. His gaze fell upon the woman on the operating table, and he laid a hand on her dark, chocolate locks. "It's a shame, you would have been great."

Turning to leave, a sound of metal hitting metal caused a shock to run down his body. Or was it the gasps of fear that erupted from everyone in the room? Slowly, he turned back around and let out a heavy breath.

Medical instruments were lifted into the air, each sharp and dangerous. For a moment, it was pure wonder in his eyes. The scalpel glistened in the light as it turned and floated, it was like magic.

The woman, Mina, was still unconscious. Her body, however, was not. It began healing at a rapid pace. Bones reformed and merged together, skin was growing and looked flawless, and her hair had even grown back in the one area. Her head, which once had a large hole, skull broken into pieces, was healed. One wouldn't even be able to tell something had invaded her mind and toyed with her for a silly experiment.

"What do we-" The nurse's voice was cut off, the sound of metal tearing into flesh replacing it. Every object that had been in the air found a victim to attack, and one by one the bodies fell to the ground. Blood pooled together on the floor, a grizzly scene for anyone to come upon. The room stayed silent, not a soul living for some time.

In the upper levels, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury had a feeling something was off. Calling for two guards, the trio made their way to the operating room. Nick was cool, collected, and was expecting to see a nervous scientist with a dead woman on the table. In truth, Nick had wanted the research to be more thorough before any real experimentation was done. However, he had relented and was surprised to hear Mina had volunteered herself. She was usually a quiet girl, doing as she was told and never stepping out of line. She'd never make it far in the S.H.I.E.L.D. ranks that way, but he had liked her.

They had finally reached the room, and the security access was cleared. Nick was not expecting to see every scientist and nurse dead. The room was deathly silent, and all the three living beings could do was stare. Then, a beeping sound was heard, then another, and another. The heart monitor was going off at a steady rate, Mina was alive.


	2. Chapter 2 - Mr Stark

"Mina Montgomery? Was she the cleaning lady? No? She will be in our home."

"Tony…"

"Yes, Pepper?"

"Be nice."

"No. Fury contacts me to tell me to let some girl in stay my house for safe-keeping, and then doesn't say anything for three weeks? Who does he think he is? Who is she?"

Mina could barely open her eyes, however even though the images that were standing before her were blurry; she knew who they belonged to. She said nothing, having trouble figuring out why Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were there.

Tony was obviously disgruntled. "She's not even awake, and she's invading my space. She is breathing my air and I don't know why."

"…Tony-" Pepper began, but was quickly cut off.

"_My_ house, _my_ air."

"Excuse me, Sir, but Miss Montgomery's vitals show she is conscious. Perhaps some discretion would be wise." The infamous JARVIS, Mina could recall reading about him.

"Oh."

As her vision began to clear, she found herself in a rather lavish bedroom. And a bunch of wires leading from underneath the gown she had on to a dozen machines. Her mind was silent and calm, and her dark eyes blinked once, slowly. "Why…" God, did her throat and head hurt. "Why am I here?"

"It involves dead people, apparently, happen to know anything about that?" Tony crossed his arms over his chest; his eyes stared coldly at the girl.

"Who's dead?" Mina asked, her heart beat beginning to quicken. Dead. _Dead_. What happened? She could remember the contract, being put to sleep with that needle in her arm, that heavy feeling…then…

She died. She remembered dying. How was is it that she was sitting here, alive? Or maybe she wasn't, and for some reason a higher power found it worthy to send her to hell and be belittled by Tony Stark for the rest of eternity. Her heart monitor picked up again, this time her breathing did too. Mina sat up, her hair falling around her like a curtain.

"Sir, her heart levels are rising to an alarming degree. It is advisable that a tranquilizer be given." JARVIS, again. However, Mina barely heard him. Pepper rushed to her side, putting a soothing hand on her trembling arm.

"Mina."

This voice she heard clear as day, it was hard not to focus on Nick Fury. "Sir…"

"Who let you in?" Tony asked, already knowing it was JARVIS. However, he went unheard.

"Your lazy ass has been out for three weeks, no way in hell are you getting a tranquilizer. Mr. Stark has been gracious enough to let you stay here while you recover, I'd prefer if you did that while you're awake. " Nick Fury walked into the room, smirking a bit at Tony as he gave a snort. "Now calm down. We have to have a little chat."

After three hours of talking, Mina's throat felt raw. Nick had wanted to go over what she remembered from the operation, every little detail. Once she was done, he'd make her go over it again. The surveillance footage had been damaged, and nearly destroyed entirely. No one knew how this came to be, so he wanted to hear her side. The story stayed the same each time she explained it, Nick seemed to be content. The last question, however, threw her off.

"Did the procedure work?"

Good question. "I…don't know, sir. I haven't tried." Pulling out a silver coin from his pocket, he held it in the middle of his palm. "What? You want me to do it _now_?" She asked, frowning. He nodded, and gave a bit of a shrug.

"Why not?"

Nervously, Mina gripped the bed sheets tightly in her hands. Her eyes stayed firmly on the coin. In her mind, she could see the object lifting from Fury's hand into the air. It hovered there, twirling slowly. The image grew clearer, and she could feel her brain focusing on that single coin. To her, there was nothing else in the room. The feeling was, to say the least, intense. It kept growing inside of her until finally…she quickly leaned over to the side of the bed and vomited onto the floor.

Fury grimaced, and stared at her for a moment. When she sat back up, she immediately sunk into the pillows, disappointment clear in her watering eyes. Grabbing her hand, he tilted his wrist until the coin slid from his palm to hers. Without a word exchanged between the two he stood and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Immediately to his left, a voice stopped him.

"Was she supposed to lift that up with her mind? Telekinesis, that was what the surgery was all about?" He asked, his eyes sliding from Mina to Nick.

"And how long were you listening to my conversation, Stark?"

"From the moment you tried to kick me out of a room in my house. Answer the question."

Sighing in defeat, the director nodded. "Yes. It was highly unlikely that it would succeed, but they insisted. "

"So, she's a failed experiment?"

Nick said nothing, but turned his back on Tony and began walking through the halls.

"Hey! Does that mean she can get back to whatever mediocre apartment she lives in?"


	3. Chapter 3 - Part of the Game (part 1)

Dreams were different for her now, much more vivid and complex. Before a few weeks ago, she rarely had interesting ones. Now, well, sometimes they were all she could think about.

Mina stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom, wondering how long she was supposed to stand being in the same house as Tony Stark. Just earlier that morning he decided her would call her "killer M&M" (oh how clever he was, using her initials as an insult). At least she wasn't hooked up to any more machines, she could actually move around comfortably now. The thing was, she felt fine besides the moments of nausea that came occasionally. Maybe she'd get to go home soon, there was no need for her to stay at Tony's any longer.

With that, her thoughts slowed and sleep called to her. Closing her eyes, she let it take over. At first, it was like she was sinking into the bed. It nearly sent her into a panicked state, but a feeling of floating in air took over. It was tremendously relaxing. Mina breathed in deeply, and she started moving through the blackness. A hum of pleasure vibrated her throat, and she opened her eyes.

Stars passed her vision, and then planets and moons, it was breath taking. Then, with a flash of light, she found herself moving at a high speed. Something she would imagine she could rival Tony in. Her body shifted upwards, a blue tunnel surrounded her for a few seconds before everything just stopped and she was in front of a large city. It was completely alien, but quite beautiful. The golden colour was rather bright, and there was a bridge that left from the city into the middle of an ocean. Two planets, moons perhaps, could be seen in the sky.

Once more Mina was being pushed forward, into the city, past people who seemingly couldn't see her. Finally arriving at the largest structure in the city, it could have been a palace; her feet gently touched the ground. This was quite a dream her mind had worked up.

People were dancing inside a large room; all of them were dressed up in beautiful gowns and elegant suits. Nothing was simple about it, and not one wore a tuxedo of some sort. It was as if she had fallen to medieval times with a lovely flair of fantasy. Mina tiptoed behind a pillar, leaning her body against it and just peeking to the side. She had no desire to disrupt this dream, it was too perfect.

A loud hearty laugh echoed throughout the room, immediately drawing Mina's attention. He was tall, blonde and held most of the attention. Women surrounded him, each doing their own versions of seduction. She smirked; it didn't look like any were getting very far.

"May I offer some advice, if it is not too bold?"

Startled, Mina spun on her heel and inched as close to the pillar behind her back as possible. "Uh…yes?" The male before her wore a small smirk, his bright green eyes shining with a playful mischief and curiosity. He walked over to her, placing a hand by her head and leaned in close. Strands of raven hair fell forwards.

"When trying to blend in with the nobility, I highly suggest wearing something a bit more…becoming. A night gown does not suffice. In truth, I am surprised the guards have not yet found you." He raised his free hand, fingers plucking at the light fabric of her clothes.

Mina lost herself in those emerald orbs only for a moment, and then she gave a bemused look and snorted. Lifting a finger she placed it on the middle of his chest, and pushed outwards, making him take a step or two back. "How terribly rude, are you threatening to kick out a guest?"

"An uninvited guest, you mean."

"And yet here I am-" Another laugh rang out, and Mina turned to look at the blonde man once more. "Who is that? He seems to be getting most of the attention tonight."

The man looked surprised, then just sighed, his gaze falling on the blonde as well. "You are truly unfamiliar with him? He's my brother. Now, if you'll excuse me I have a shadow to live in." A smile toyed on his lips, his eyes moving back to Mina. She frowned, however.

"A shadow? Not very ambitious, are you?"

"…" The man had his mouth open, ready to retort, but nothing came for a few seconds. "You know nothing of me."

"You're right. I don't even know your name. That said, I'm sure you're capable of great things. We all are, we just have to find the strength in ourselves." Mina smiled, and turned away, suddenly desiring to explore. A hand clasped onto her wrist, tugging her back. Hot breath washed across her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Allow me to give you a gift." It was nothing more than a whisper and Mina forgot how to breathe properly. Looking down, she saw the gown she was wearing shift into an entirely different piece of clothing. A dark green dress made of the finest silk wrapped around her body; it was a simple design, but pretty none the less. "So the guards are less suspecting of you. It would be a shame if you got caught and I had yet to play with you some more."

As he let go of Mina, she watched him walk past her. "I don't even know your name."

"It's part of the game." He glanced back at her once, before disappearing back into the sea of people. His words were too tempting, she had to follow him. And so she did, wondering where this dream was taking her.


End file.
